The Notebook
by sympathy for monsters
Summary: "You are the fourth Simon Bellamy to fall in love with Alisha Bailey. Maybe if you do everything right you will be able to save the woman you love." What will Simon do differently when he may have the chance to be with Alisha . . . forever?    post 3.8
1. maybe you two can grow old together

**The Notebook**

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><p>Simon liked his apartment neat. There was a small door in his apartment that had always been there. He didn't particularly like it. But it was there, like a P.O. box that had just been stuck in the side of the wall since he had moved into the apartment with Alisha.<p>

Now he was looking around for the last time. The tears hadn't even dried on his face before he knew what he had to do. He had gotten back to the apartment and found the backpack with his super hoodie costume. He grabbed all the cash he had lying around and stuffed it into a different envelope than the ten grand Seth had given him.

After he had packed Simon thought about that door again. He dropped the backpack on the bed he had shared with Alisha and went over to the door, running his hands over it. There was a small crack in the side opposite the hinge, too small to be a keyhole but to large to be an accident with the material. Simon frowned and then, slowly, his eyes widened.

He ran back to his rucksack, dug through the small pocket in front and found it.

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><p><em>"What is that?" Simon asked, smiling, and pushing against a small locket Alisha was wearing. She giggled and twirled her finger around the light golden chain.<em>

_"You gave it to me!"_

_"No, I didn't."_

_"Superhoodie did. He said, it would help keep me safe." Alisha looked down at the small thing. "He said," Alisha wrapped her arms around Simons neck and pulled him closer. "that I wouldn't be able to live without it."_

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><p>Simon stood in front of the small door. The open locket was clutched in his hand. Inside the door there was something that looked like a jewelry box. He took it out and realized that he recognized it as his mothers. He took it over to the bed and sat down, placing the locket back into the rucksack.<p>

There was no lock on the jewelry box and he opened it. Inside was another ten grand of bank notes, an old leather bound notebook and on top a letter – addressed only to SIMON - very clearly read – in his own handwriting – 'READ ME FIRST'. Simon sifted through the rest of the jewelry box and then tore the envelope open, holding the paper in his shakey hands.

**You are not the first Simon Bellamy to fall in love with Alisha Bailey. You are the fourth Simon to receive this notebook after it had been started by the Simon that made the locket that is now in your black backpack. You are going to save Alisha, and maybe, if you're lucky, you will save yourself.**

**Maybe, if you can get everything, absolutely _everything_ right, you can grow old with the woman you love.**

**It hasn't happened yet.**

**But if you can do everything right.**

**Maybe you can make it happen.**

**Good luck.**

**Simon.**

Simon's hand was shaking as he picked up the leather bound notebook. He opened it up carefully, noticing duplicates and sometimes triplicates of pictures, receipts, and carefully drawn maps.

His eyes widened as he flipped though it. It was all here. Every day the newest Simon had entered the entire days events in the notebook. The first Simon had failed to get peanuts to himself on time and Kelly ended up dying. The next Simon hadn't prevented the leak of information about their powers. The third Simon, the Simon with the notebook in his hands, knew had been killed by Tim, the man who thought that he was in a video game.

All the other Simons had failed and been killed somehow, before they could prevent Rachel killing Alisha.

Simon shut the notebook suddenly and stood up, shoving the jewelry box and everything inside it into his rucksack.

He was going to save her. He was going to save them all.

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><p>Let me know what you guys think of this!<p>

My first Misfits fic but I will go down with this ship.

That is all. 3


	2. 1: you must not interact with simon

Wow, guys. Thank you for your support. I got quite a few hits and more reviews than I had hoped for. Keep them coming! This chapter is a set up. The next are going to be even more exciting. It's worth mentioning that this chapter is about the average length of what I'll post.

Also, _if ever anything is in italics, it is a memory_. **If ever anything is bolded it is from the Notebook**.

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><p><strong>1. Do not interact with the past Simon. He needs to become you, not be told who to be.<strong>

**-First Simon**

Simon arrived in the past at the date the notebook said was the best time to appear. It was about three or four weeks before the first sighting of Superhoodie that he could remember any of them talking about. He wished now that he had asked Alisha to tell him exactly what he had done but Simon remembered how much he had hated hearing about himself. This was going to be so confusing he thought, setting his backpack down in the ruined loft.

The instructions for legally obtaining the loft were in the notebook, as well as cell phone numbers for a realty agent and a bank that would give him a loan. Everything was meticulously prepared and planned out and Simon was satisfied that his past selves had done their job properly.

He started simple. He cleaned the apartment, replaced the lights and fixed the plumbing. That was the first week.

After he had finished the work around the loft he steeled himself he went out to find Seth. It wasn't hard, he had managed to time his arrival perfectly, just as Seth was pulling the plastic off his desk. It was easy enough to trade money for the ability to be invulnerable to other powers, and ignored it when Seth asked who he was, turning and walking out the door at a brisk pace, jumping over a stairway railing and hiding behind a column when Seth ran after him.

He had three powers now. Foresight – he had seen Seth running after him, the ability to go back in time and now invulnerability to other powers. He supposed that maybe the latter should have countered the others but the accidental insight into the immediate future proved otherwise. Looking through the notebook it mentioned that this wasn't the case for the third Simon, who had to trade Seth for the Invulnerability power since the relationship between Seth and Kelly not as cordial as it had been in this – the fourth Simon's - timeline. This was interesting, and for the first time Simon began to hope again.

He had an advantage that his other selves didn't have.

Next Simon ordered furniture online, tables to line the walls, countdown clocks, a shower screen, a rack for his clothes, a bed frame and mattress. He had managed to get a credit card in his uncles name and ordered a few vanity items he had remembered. Towels, a Polaroid camera, linens, weights, a punching bag, and the materials he needed to build the P.O. box.

The jewelry box contained everything he could possibly need. Diagrams of the box and locket, and a suggestion that he make at least two lockets so he could open the box whenever he wanted to, even outlines of where all the furniture had been set up. It bothered him a bit that numerous other versions of himself had come back and fixed this place up in exactly the same way, so he decided to paint the walls. He chose a light green, and painted the far wall a yellow, Alisha's favorite color.

He smiled after he had finished. Something was already different.

It was as simple as changing the paint, that was enough to convince Simon that as long as he could do one thing different, change one thing, what was to stop him changing everything else?

All he had done so far was the busywork. The easy set up. He had started to follow the group, but just barely, snapping Polaroid's whenever he got the chance. It wasn't too hard, the most difficult part had been when he began to take pictures of Alisha. Simon would have much rather run up to her, pulled her close, and never let her go, breathe into her hair, hold her, but. . . that would be later. That would be the worst part, he knew, trying to stop himself from telling Alisha how much he loved her.

He sat down on the bed frame that surrounded the queen mattress – painted an off white – and looked around. He had already set up the clocks, timed them properly, and put up the few pictures that had been in the jewelry box as well as the three dozen or so he had managed to take. There was one picture that stood out. The beat up photograph of him and Alisha smiling in front of the Las Vegas sign.

Simon smiled and tried again not to cry. She was alive. She was here, he was here, they may not be together but for the moment, she was safe. He kept repeating that and looked at the ceiling of the loft, taking deep breaths.

Alisha was safe, and right now that was all that mattered.

What if he did something wrong? Simon looked at the notebook and opened it. He had to wait until he needed to save Nathan from the Virtue zombies before he did anything else. He had about a week left, as far as he could tell. He might as well spend that time studying and preparing.

There was a tab sticking out of the notebook, like one he would use in his textbook. It was labeled simply '**ICE**' and Simon knew that it meant In Case of Emergency.

**If something goes wrong, **The first Simon had written,** you can go back in time to change it. Just remember that you do not replace the past you, you merely appear alongside of them. If you cannot stay out of the way and fix whatever has been done incorrectly without interfering so much that the past you does not go back again, there will exist a reality with two – or possibly three – of yourself.**

That paragraph alone made Simons head hurt. But it didn't help him. There was a line after another few paragraphs that had been bolded and underlined.

**If you need to, you can go back in time and kill yourself.**

Simon closed the book almost immediately after that sentence and stood up, walking over to the sink on the other side of the loft. He stared at the steel bowl, his heart racing. He thought he was going to be sick. Could he really though?

He looked at his reflection and clenched his fists around the sides of the sink, clenching his jaw. Could he even do it? He'd never killed someone like that, in cold blood. He supposed it wasn't without a reason, it would be to save Alisha. He knew that he would sacrifice himself to save her in an instant, but did that really mean he had to literally do it?

Simon went back to the notebook and opened to the ICE tab. It continued after the bolded print, explaining the experiment the second Simon went through to prove his assertion.

**I bought a mouse from a pet shop. I put it in its cage and then left for an hour. I went to the bar, had a drink, and then came back into the loft. I put the mouse in a small shoebox and went outside, going back in time a half hour. I went back in the loft, and (the Simon holding the notebook could see where the second Simon's hand had trembled a bit) broke the neck of the mouse in the cage and replaced it with the mouse from the future I had brought with me.**

**The future mouse showed no sign of trauma, and continued as normal. I hid in the loft until the past Simon showed up from the bar I had been at, put the future mouse in the shoebox and left.**

**I am looking at the dead mouse, and I can definitely say that if I need to, I can kill myself with no negative consequences other than I now have a body to get rid of.**

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><p>R&amp;R, thanks everyone!<p> 


	3. 2: eventually you will need to step back

Thank you all for your support! More action and a buildup until he finally meets Alisha in the next chapter!

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><p><strong>2. Eventually you will either need to die, or remove yourself from the timeline in order to prevent duplicate Simons.<strong>

**-First Simon**

The notebook came with a set of rules. Simon realized at first glance that they were quite arbitrary and he could break them at any time, but he decided to memorize them and hope that the past Simons had the experience he needed to save Alisha.

He had just made it on his bike in time to save Nathan, and it hurt not to tell him anything, just boot him off the bike and pedal away. That night he lay awake for hours in his bed. He knew that the next day Nathan would pretend to be a part of the Virtue squad, pretend to wave a real gun in Rachel's face and then fall to his death.

Which was okay. Simon cracked a smile as he remembered how ridiculous they all acted once it was known that Nathan was immortal. That prat, he couldn't resist the sort of power that something like immortality had. Simon shut his eyes and turned over.

God, he missed them. It wasn't just Alisha, it was everyone, just Alisha especially. He knew that he had a huge responsibility and the thought of that sort of power threatened to overwhelm him as he lay there, face buried in the pillow that should smell like her but didn't. He knew now more than ever that they belonged together.

It wasn't enough for them to die together, it wasn't enough to live together. They needed to be together, they needed to fight for their love, and Simon knew now more than ever that he would fight forever. Who knew how many cycles of this he had been going through? What if he never went back?

That might be the biggest reason he needed to step back and let Alisha start to love the present Simon. So that just in case anything happened she wouldn't need her masked savior to come down and save her; the present Simon would risk his life just as he was doing now. What if something else happened? What if something else went wrong and the current Simon never goes back in time. If he failed both of them, all of them might die.

Simon didn't sleep at all.

He woke up earlier, far earlier than he needed, and put on his body armor, boots, and black hoodie. He then grabbed his backpack and stuffed his ski mask and face protection in the front pocket, glancing at the giant clock on the wall; the first of a little less than a dozen to hit zero. He had added more clocks than the past Simons, but he was determined to save everyone. Even the people who hadn't gotten close to him, like Ollie and Nathan's brother. Nobody deserved to die, after all.

There were three pieces of paper in his backpack that he had stenciled the words 'go to his gave' in regulation army lettering. He had already walked through the building and broken onto the roof. Now he waited.

There! Simon's breath fogged up his mask and the lower edge of his goggles as he saw Kelly come outside. Perfect. And there was a light breeze too. His fingers were holding onto the paper airplane and he took a deep breath, looked up, and waited. Then he saw it – a quick little insight into the future – and without thinking he threw the paper airplane, smiling a small satisfied smile as the plane glided across the canal and hit Kelly in the hip.

He frowned.

In his timeline, she said it hit her head.

But what was a few feet difference, anyway?

He couldn't shake the feeling though. When he went back to the loft he took out the layout of the community centre he had downloaded from the city halls website, spreading it out on the table, marking the approximate times when he had to be at certain places and where he could go so he wouldn't be seen.

Simon knew that he could make a difference, that he could change the outcome of events, but could each timeline be different? It didn't seem like the people in each timeline were any different; he had come back at least four times already and if that didn't speak for his character it would be a hard thing to find something that would.

People were people, but he supposed, some things may have changed. It was that free will thing, Simon guessed. You could still chose to do things, but maybe sometimes people choose different things.

Maybe, Simon thought, the world turned a little differently each time.

The next morning was it. This was when he knew he was going to make a difference.

**Do not try to talk to Lucy, or interact with her at all. She must not be approached because her intimacy issues will only be exacerbated with contact. Ignoring her is harsh, but it must happen and the present Simon needs to come to terms with this and apologize himself.**

The first Simon had simply planted some razors in Lucy's room and put her on lockdown for the days that she was supposed to be at the Community Centre. Unfortunately, Lucy had run into his present Simon on her own when she was given a week to visit family. The results, while not disastrous, had affected their relationships with Seth and Nikki later in their timelines.

Simon was sitting on his bed when the countdown clock turned twelve. He left, in his full outfit and arrived at the community centre on time. He snuck in the back entrance and made his way through the building

There were footsteps and his breathe hitched in his throat as he hid behind one of the pillars in the large forum room.

It was her. Alisha walked by with a look on her face he recognized for worry, fear and, of course, determination. This was the closest he had been to her in nearly a month and Simon squeezed his eyes shut behind his mask, realizing he had been holding his breath as she walked by. It was all he could do not to run after her, hold her, kiss her, tell her how much he loved her. It was a terrible in his chest but as soon as she walked out of sight he glanced at his watch.

Four minutes until Lucy-as-Kelly would try to kill Curtis.

He went into the boiler room with the switchboard. The lights were off and he kept it that way, turning on his night vision goggles and adjusting to the lack of light. His heart was beating out of his chest and he placed his hand on the large red switch that would kill the power. The digital display hit 00:00 and he slammed down on the lights, running out of the room.

It was automatic. He had the community centre memorized and he ran into the locker room, shoved the fake Kelly out of the way,

"Hey!"

"What was tha'?"

"Curtis?" He knew that was Alisha. She was with the boy who was half dead in his hands. God, that hurt.

He threw Curtis in the boiler room with only a little difficulty and ripped the bag off his head, pausing only for a second to see that his friend was still breathing before flipping the power switch and shutting the door.

Instead of leaving immediately he went up to the room and, listening carefully, tried to follow the action beneath him. He saw Lucy running into the dark and knew that she was going to tell the police about the dead probation worker – Sally – in the freezer bin.

He was getting a little nervous, but saw himself run out as well after about half an hour. Good. Everything was going well. Kelly was helping Curtis get into a taxi and waited for Alisha.

Simon stood up and watched the two as they began to head home. It was a little reckless, but so was everything else he had to do, so he wasn't surprised when Alisha turned to look back at the Centre and saw him.

He didn't move at all, and it was only when she turned around to grab Kellys attention that he ducked down, breathing hard, but smiling genuinely for the first time in a long while.

He almost had her back.

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><p>R&amp;R, thanks everyone!<p> 


	4. 3: sometimes things are different

Sorry for the delay! Got caught up in the Holidays. I've not forgotten this story. : ) anyway, this is a good one and next chapter gets fun and he finally interacts with Alisha! Yessss.

Thanks to all reviewers/readers!

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><p><strong>3. Events vary slightly in each timeline. You have the power to change lives and save them, just remember that every action you take has consequences, even if you don't realize them.<strong>

Simon had a hard time sleeping most nights. He was afraid something would change, that he would miss something and wake up with no chance to correct something. He wasn't reassured by the fact that if he missed something while he was asleep he could just go back in time and during the time he was sleeping fix whatever had been missed. That would mess up every cycle and it took a few minutes to wrap his head around it. It wasn't fair that he had to do this alone.

Even the pictures on the wall couldn't comfort him. The memories of his relationship with Alisha threatened to overwhelm him. He knew that they had something rare and special and in the end it was that love which was worth fighting for. It was worth dying for.

His premonitions were becoming more frequent. They didn't interfere with his work, but every now and then they startled him. Simon had gotten more used to them as time went on.

(By this time he had gotten out of bed and walked over to his weight rack, starting to exercise mechanically.)

These powers were really messing with his head. He had one that saw into the future and another that could jerk him back. It was like living in two worlds, the possible and the past. It was an incredible gift and he knew that as the fourth Simon he had an infinite advantage over the other Simons. He had combed the notebook front to back and – although he hadn't made it through all the footage kept in the three or four CD's he had found – he didn't find any evidence that the last Simons had his powers.

Hopefully it would be enough to save Alisha.

He stopped for a second. These powers. They were his best weapon but it was the same for everyone else.

Wasn't he just thinking about how he wished he had a partner? He'd didn't know when he would be able to have Alisha back in his life. The thought suddenly hit him, Seth would be the perfect partner. He would be able to avoid most disasters if only Seth was helping him.

He entertained the fantasy for a few minutes. He knew that he could never truly enlist Seth to help him. It would leave one more loose end and that would be one too many. He was already fucking with the timeline more than anyone should but letting another person in on the secret would be fundamentally against everything he and the past Simons believed in.

Could he do it in a way that Seth didn't know whom he was helping? There was another Simon, after all, and it wasn't like Seth had really seen his face when he had gotten the invulnerability power.

No. This was absurd. Simon put down his weights and closed his eyes, putting his palms against his eyes, pressing lightly until bright patterns of color burst in front of his eyes. He needed to focus.

Maybe in a few days he would approach Seth. What if he got another power?

He went back to bed, glancing at the clock nearest to counting down. Tomorrow was another big day. Simon eventually fell asleep, but not before thinking about how much he wished he was sleeping next to Alisha.

Jamie arrived the next day and Simon followed the two for a little bit, to make sure that they didn't crash their car or so anything unreasonably stupid. Sure enough, they met the girl who controlled ice and after Nathan was hit, left the pub. Simon stood up, paid for his drink and left. They ran into the thugs and got their car back, and then Simon left.

He wanted to see Alisha.

He waited until she had left the community center and then followed her back to her apartment. She looked sad, he thought, hiding behind a column. He jumped over a building, keeping an eye on her, was hit with a premonition that she had darted the other way and then leapt over another rooftop, flipping over and rolling so that she would have a harder time seeing him. Simon jumped down and ran over to where he thought she was going to appear and took deep breaths.

He was resting on the balcony when he heard her. Simon turned and saw Alisha, staring at him, a camera in her hand.

She didn't know who he was. He stood straight, staring at her, feeling like he had finally seen everything that he had been dedicating his entire life too, before remembering that this Alisha didn't love him. She probably had never even thought about him like that.

And all Simon wanted to do was hold her.

Instead, he jumped over the balcony, fell to the ground, and hid under a small overhang that Alisha couldn't see as she peered over the edge. Simon waited until she had left and then began to follow her again, keeping well out of sight.

He would protect her, no matter what.

Another day passed and another clock was ticking down. Simon had been wrestling with the problem of Jamie. All their problems during the party had come from them taking those drugs. It hadn't hurt any one of their group and Nathan had come out only slightly worse for the wear, but still.

He glanced at the wall. The clock was ticking. He never knew nervous until just now.

Lives were lives, after all. If he could save one that would prove he could save Alisha. Changing the wall color was something but Lily and Jamie? Those were people. They would mean something.

Simon stood up from his desk and stalked over to the punching bag he had set up. He stared at it, breathing hard, eyes clenched. Then he twisted and swung, hitting the punching bag with a satisfying thwack. He looked down at his hand. It wasn't red or anything, but he could feel the blood pounding.

He hit the bag again and again, eyes nearly shut, his breath becoming ragged. He stopped when he saw a dark smear on the leather and stumbled back, panting. His hands were bleeding. He looked down. Dripping blood on the steel floor. He could barely unclench his fists and he was no closer now than he was ten minutes ago to figuring out how to save his friend.

_"He seems to know everything."_

He needed to get those drugs from Jamie. It was the only way he could save Nathans brother and that girl. In the second and third timelines Nathan hadn't met Lily. In the first she was killed as well, but now . . . he had the power to change the fifth timeline.

Simon got up immediately, double checked that his watch was set to the time when the car was going to catch on fire and suited up. It was just after noon and he knew he had only a few hours to get the drugs away from Jamie.

He went to the community center and waited. It was hot on the roof and Simon was dripping sweat but he knew he couldn't take off his mask or gloves. He sat up there in the sweltering heat for three hours before he saw Nathan and Jamie come back from wherever they had been. Simon had no idea of knowing when Jamie got the pills but he was pretty sure that he hadn't bought them while he was with Nathan.

It was only a matter of time now. Simon slipped back into the center and snuck into a closet.

"It's hot as the devils ball sack in here!" Nathans voice rang out.

"Gross man."

"I'm grabbing a beer you fancy one?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

Simon peeked around the corner of the stairwell. Nathan and Jamie had gone downstairs towards the kitchen, leaving their jackets on as they went down the stairs.

Too easy, Simon thought. He crept around the entrance to the roof stairwell and quickly dug in Jamie's jean jacket, finding the pills and replacing them with some aspirin that looked nearly the same and would be indiscernible in the dark rave.

There. He left the building through the back door, turning down the thermostat as he did. It must have been at least ninety in the center.

Later that night, at the rave, Simon – dressed as Superhoodie – stood in the background. Sure enough, Jamie and Lily came outside and began to hook up in the car. Simon watched, standing in between two of the crates, trying to see any sort of change in Nathan.

Nothing.

The car didn't explode, Nathan stood still and then went back inside, and Simon could see himself staring at Nathan and then following him back into the rave. Superhoodie was supposed to lead him to Nikki's home but there would be another time for that. Right now, Simon reveled in his small victories.

He went home, showered, and then reset his wristwatch for two days from then, when the notebook said that he'd have to follow Alisha carefully for the next few days. He didn't remember why just then, too caught up in the fact that he had saved Lily and Jamie.

Maybe Nathan would never make up with his father. But that had to be better than his brother being dead, right?

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><p>ReadReview, thanks all!


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